The 2023 U-20 Player Pool Thread

One thing that worries me about Sanogo (as well as Moukoko, since I group them together in my head since they're always referenced together) is that while they scored a ton of goals at youth level, there are few players at the pro level who succeed and play like them. It's hard to be an elite striker at under 6 foot, and players of African descent who succeed at early levels of their career without obvious technical skills never seem to really pan out. They both fit the mold, for me, of great youth players who just never develop into the same level of pro.

 

I see your point, but transfermarkt lists Sanogo at 1.85m, which is about 6’1. I have not yet seen him play, only highlights, so I would not have much of an opinion. That listing could be incorrect.

 

This is the first time I’ve seen him play and it was only 45’. I didn’t think there were any technical deficiencies but he seems like he does this thing that young strikers do where is constantly ready to run forward on a through ball when it’s obvious that it the pass isn’t there. I think that’s something he could learn not to do with a decent coach though.

 

That's definitely better. I'm just usually pretty bearish on players like this.

That's kinda my point though. Being not deficient in a lot of categories isn't something that makes a great player, especially when I'm assuming he's going to lose a bit of an athletic advantage against adults.

Anyways, this isn't a hill I'm going to die on because he has put up elite numbers. But I just thought I'd note it down.

 

It’s hard for me to say because the only time I’ve seen him play was against adults. He didn’t look like the type of player who relied solely on his athleticism. His passing was mostly on point, his decision making with the ball was very good, and his ability to do what he was trying to do was very impressive. But he only touched the ball about 10 or 12 times so it’s not like I can form any solid conclusions. Especially since this game looked like it was being played at 75% effort.

 

An update from my December pool of 100 players who could play a part this cycle. I've narrowed it down to 75 for now.

GK(10): Andrew Cordes ('03), Eliot Jones ('03), Beckham Sunderland ('03), Alex Borto ('03), Chris Brady ('04), Jeff Dewsnup ('04), Gabe Slonina ('04), Antonio Carrera ('04), Emmanuel Ochoa ('05), Gavin Beavers ('05)

RB (9): Mauricio Cuevas ('03), Noah Hall ('03), Colby Quinones ('03), Michael Halliday ('03), Justin Che ('03), Alexander Freeman ('04), Erik Duenas ('04), Justin Reynolds ('04), Angel Bernal ('05)

CB (11): Casey Walls ('03), Jalen Neal ('03), Marcus Ferkranus ('03), Eric Kinzner ('03), Antonio Leone ('04), Nigel Prince ('04), Alejandro Cano ('04), Cody Baker ('04), Thomas Williams ('04) Nati Clarke ('05), Haroun Conteh ('05)

LB (9): Jonathan Gomez ('03), Kevin Paredes ('03), Anton Sorenson ('03), Boima Cummins ('03), Jacob Greene ('03), Tristan Viviani ('04), Noah Allen ('04), Caleb Wiley ('04), Denilson Velasquez ('04)

DM/CM (13): Elton Chifamba ('03), Alejandro Alvarado ('03), Danny Leyva ('03), Jack McGlynn ('03), Tarun Karumanchi ('03), Brandan Craig ('04), Zach Booth ('04), Kenan Hot ('04), Jackson Gilman ('04), Efrain Morales ('04), Reed Baker-Whiting ('05), Brooklyn Raines ('05), Bryan Moyado ('05)

AM/Wing (15): Moses Nyeman ('03), Sam Sarver ('03), Chris Garcia ('03), Caden Clark ('03), Fabrizio Bernal ('03), Tyler Freeman ('03), Dante Sealy ('03), Edison Azcona ('03), Brian Gutierrez ('03), Dantouma Toure ('04), Quinn Sullivan ('04), Leo Torres ('04), Gage Akalu ('05), Chris Thaggard ('05), Felipe Valencia ('05)

CF (8): Ricardo Pepi ('03), Cade Cowell ('03), Matthew Roou ('03), Roald Mitchell ('03), Patrick Weah ('03), Fede Oliva ('04), Malick Sanogo ('04), Christian Torres ('04)

Additions: Borto, Freeman, Kinzner, Williams, Allen, Velasquez, Cowell, Mitchell

Borto is a newer name. He's had a lot of success at Fulham. I still have not seen him play. Is he good? I don't know, but he could be. The '03 GK's aren't great either. I hadn't seen Freeman play. He's elevated himself into the pool. Kinzner and Allen are two guys who've elevated their stock with good seasons, and play positions where the depth isn't as great. Williams is a left-footed CB with upside. The CB pool could use some depth, even if he's not high up the CB list right now. Velasquez is a newer name, and at a weaker position. Mitchell another newer name at a weaker position. Cowell was very close to making the 100, so it's not a big swing in opinion, but he's been a productive MLS striker. I'm still lower than most on Cowell, but he's absolutely within the U-20 pool at CF now.

Subtractions: Budler, Watson, Tibbetts, Kulhanek, Nehme, Alguera, Bosshardt, Sanchez, Rainey, Edwards, Swinehart, Tanks, Rumley, Travis, Rouse, Casas, Wilkerson, Barrera, Pukstas, Carleton, Jacobs, Jones, Reyes, Aaronson, Rotundo, Villal, Luna, Dubon, Rocha, Arellano, Ramirez, Mazzola

Budler, Kulhanek, Swinehart, Tanks, Rumley, Casas, Wilkerson, Barrera, Pukstas, Carleton, Jacobs, Aaronson, Rotundo, Luna, Arellano would probably all make a top 100, but I'm cutting it down to 75, so they've been cut from the last list for that reason. Watson, Nehme, Alguera, Bosshardt are all good keepers, but I probably included too many keepers on my initial list. Sanchez and Rouse are two players I likely overestimated initially as fullbacks in a weak fullback year. Dubon is another '05 who has dropped off a little in my estimation. Edwards and Travis are good players, but at this point I would say there are better options. Jones, Villal, Ramirez and Mazzola are all good players (05's), but have dropped off a little. Reyes is no longer eligible after being cap-tied by Cuba.

Best 23:

GK: Dewsnup, Brady, Slonina
DF: Freeman, Cuevas, Neal, Walls, Leone, Clarke, Gomez, Paredes
MF: Craig, Booth, Alvarado, Leyva, Nyeman, Clark, Sullivan, Toure
FW: Pepi, Mitchell, Cowell, Sanogo

Dewsnup and Brady are the clear top 2 keepers IMO. Could you argue taking an '05 over Slonina (likely Ochoa)? Yes, but Slonina is a USSF favorite. If he's not top 2 (meaning he makes qualifying roster over Dewsnup or Brady), thats a victory. I don't think a keeper playing up an age group is making it over him. Freeman has jumped the line at RB IMO. CB may not be deep, but it's crowded at the top. I left Che and Prince off, although I don't think there's a huge gap between any of the CB's. I'm not convinced Paredes is a LB long-term, but it helps get him on the team.

Midfield was also hard to pick. Someone like McGlynn was left off. Baker-Whiting and Karumanchi are a few others I think aren't far off from a spot. Attacking spots were also difficult to pick. Torres, Akalu, Thaggard, Sarver all among the players who I wouldn't count out for a spot. You could drop a forward, but players like Mitchell and Cowell can play winger (along with Toure, all the fullbacks, and Clark), so we may not need any more traditional wingers.

 

I find it very interesting that you essentially listed 100 u18s in front of Cowell, doesn’t Cowell getting called up to the senior NT for a knockout game in an international tournament kinda destroy that narrative?

 

Cowell is in there in the top 23. I think you should take the fact that @ussoccer97531 bumped him up to mean more than his rating months ago. I'd say as a talent rater @ussoccer97531 is probably the least reactionary rater on the site, so the fact that Cowell, who is a player that he did not originally rate whatsoever, is now in his 23 should tell you enough.

 

This is my idea of Hell.

 

I'm far less informed than a lot of people here and we're a long way out but always fun to look back in two years and laugh at this original guess:

GK: Dewsnup, Borto, Brady
FB: Cuevas, Halliday, Gomez, Allen
CB: Che*, Walls, Leone, Neal
CM/DM: Nyeman, Leyva, McGlynn, Chifamba, Alvarado
AM/W: Clark*, Paredes, Cowell, Sullivan, Sealy
ST: Pepi, Sanogo

---------------------------------- Pepi ---------------------------------
---- Paredes ----------------- Clark ------------------ Cowell ----
-------------------- McGlynn ------------------------------------------
- Gomez ---------------------------- Nyeman --------- Cuevas --
---------------------- Walls ------------- Che -------------------------
---------------------------------- Brady ---------------------------------

Let's assume Che and Clark haven't played their way beyond this level. Many others could too (Nyeman, Paredes, Cowell, either of the two strikers, Gomez). It really is a group that could put together an exceptional starting XI, and that is without Yunus and Gio.

If Che graduates from YNT my next three would be Brendan Craig, Marcus Fekranus, and Eric Kinzner in that order.
If Clark graudates I'd probably add a player deeper in the field - Daniel Edelman, RBW, Kenan Hot, Brooklyn Raines, Zac Booth?

A lot is going to change in two years. But the 03s are certainly something to be happy about. Keep Pepi, Gomez, and Sanogo in the pool please.

 

That's a fun team, but it is going to be absolutely gutted by players who will not be released.

 

Qualifying will be in season, so anyone playing with a first team in Europe is out, and very possibly some MLS first teamers.

We're a year+ from qualifying; I expect a lot of those guys to be unavailable.

You may be right about the actual U20 World Cup if it is out of season, but it is a while away, and a bunch of these guys will be playing at a level where it is pretty inconsistent about whether they go.

 

We almost always get the MLS U20s we want. I'm not worried about that. Atlanta aside..........

This cycle would have been a first real barometer of Euro releases en masse for the U20s qualifying event (I always worry about that before the World Cup). Would we have gotten Reyna, Musah, Hoppe, de la Fuente, Otasowie, Reynolds, Llanez, and those guys? Probably wouldn't have gotten 2 or 3 (Reyna, Musah, Hoppe), but could potentially have gotten quite a number of others. We just don't know.

And I think this 2003 crew will all be in Europe, so have no idea how that will play. We should be working hard on developing depth. Of course, we're doing squadoosh at the moment.

 

In my context............developing meant building.
Player identification and integration.

We should be in the "casting a wide net" phase.

 

***** = too good to be there
**** = great option
*** = good option
** = know a little about
* = still a mystery to me

GK
~Carver Miller, 04, Arminia Bielefeld *
~Alex Borto, 03, Fulham **
~ Emmanuel Ochoa, 05, San Jose Earthquakes **
1. Jeff Dewsnup, 04, Real Salt Lake ***
2. Chris Brady, 04, Chicago Fire **
3. Gabriel Slonina, 04, Chicago Fire **
4. Julian Eyestone, 06, FC Dallas **
5. Beckham Sunderland, FC, 03, Cincinnati *
6. Andrew Cordes, 03, Colorado Rapids *
7. Gavin Beavers, 05, Real Salt Lake *
8. Gavin Krenecki, 03, Sporting Kansas City *
9. Nichols Holliday, 06, North Carolina FC *

RB
~ Erik Duenas, 04, Los Angeles FC **
1. Michael Halliday, 03, Orlando City ***
2. Mauricio Cuevas, 03, LA Galaxy **
3. Collin Smith, 03, FC Dallas **
4. Kayden Pierre, 03, Sporting Kansas City *
5. Justin Reynolds, 04, Chicago Fire *
6. Noah Hall, 03, Columbus Crew *
7. Logan Batiste, 04, Inter Miami *
8. Colby Quinones, 03, New England Revolution *

CB
~ Justin Che, 03, FC Dallas *****
~ Bryan Okoh, 03, RB Salzburg ****
~ Antonio Leone, 04, LA Galaxy **
1. Casey Walls, 03, San Jose Earthquakes **
2. Brandan Craig, 04, Philadelphia Union *
3. Thomas Williams, 04, Orlando City *
4. Jalen Neal, 03, LA Galaxy *
5. Marcus Ferkranus, 03, LA Galaxy *
6. Ethan Hardin, 03, Inter Miami *
7. Efrain Morales, 04, Atlanta United *
8. Nati Clarke, 05, Sporting Kansas City *
9. Diego Rosales, 05, Las Vegas Lights *
10. Eric Kinzner, 03, Seattle Sounders *
11. Jaziel Orozco, 04, Real Salt Lake *
12. Kobi Henry, 04, Orange County *
13. Joshua Wynder, 05, Louisville City *
14. Dante Huckaby, 03, Philadelphia Union *

LB
~ Jonathan Gomez, 03, Louisville City ****
1. Kevin Paredes, 03, DC United ****
2. Caleb Wiley, 04, Atlanta United ***
3. Jacob Greene, 03, DC United **
4. Noah Allen, 03, Inter Miami **
5. Curtis Ofori, 05, New York Red Bull *
6. Coby Jones, 03, Sporting Kansas City *
7. Paul Son, 04, Las Vegas Lights *
8. Michael Lenis, 03, Sporting Kansas City *
9. Armando Avila, 04, Las Vegas Lights *

MF
~ Zach Booth, 04, Leicester City **
1. Moses Nyeman, 03, DC United ****
2. Danny Leyva, 03, Seattle Sounders ***
3. Reed Baker-Whiting, 05, Seattle Sounders ***
4. Jack McGlynn, 03, Philadelphia Union ***
5. Javier Casas, 03, Forward Madison *
6. Allan Rodriguez, 04, Chicago Fire *
7. Juan Castilla, 04, Houston Dynamo *
8. Noah Cobb, 05, Atlanta United *
9. Francis Jacobs, 05, Orange County *
10. Daniel Edelman, 03, New York Red Bulls *
11. Marvin Gamez, 03, Las Vegas Lights *
12. Jayvin Van Deventer, 04, Sporting Kansas City *
13. Elijah Wynder, 03, Louisville City *
14. Kenan Hot, 04, NYRB? *

AT
~ Caden Clark, 03, RB Leipzig *****
~ Cade Cowell, 03, San Jose Earthquakes *****
~ Dante Sealy, 03, FC Dallas ***
~ Evan Rotundo, 04, Schalke ***
~ Edison Azcona, 03, Inter Miami **
~ Jonathan Perez, 03, LA Galaxy *
1. Quinn Sullivan, 04, Philadelphia Union ****
2. Brian Gutierrez, 03, Chicago Fire ***
3. Paxten Aaronson, 03, Philadelphia Union ***
4. Obed Vargas, 05, Seattle Sounders **
5. Tyler Wolff, 03, Atlanta United **
6. Matthew Corcoran, 06, FC Dallas **
7. Yaya Toure, 04, Colorado Rapids *
8. Ozzie Cisneros, 04, Sporting Kansas City *
9. Chris Garcia, 03, Real Salt Lake *
10. Diego Luna, 03, El Paso Locomotive *
11. Felipe Valencia, 05, Inter Miami *
12. Gage Akalu, 05, Sporting Kansas City *
13. Raymond Drai, 03, Orange County *
14. Rafael Jauregui, 03, Sacramento Republic *
15. Christopher Jaime, 04, Las Vegas Lights *
16. Victor Valdez, 04, LA Galaxy *

FW
~ Ricardo Pepi, 03, FC Dallas *****
~ Malick Sanogo, 04, Union Berlin ****
~ Federico Olivia, 04, Atletico Madrid *
~ Christian Torres, 04, Los Angeles FC **
1. Patrick Weah, 03, Minnesota United **
2. Darren Yapi, 04, Colorado Rapids **
3. Arquimedes Ordonez, 03, FC Cincinnati **
4. Tyler Freeman, 03, Sporting Kansas City **
5. Danial Sabathu, 05, Atlanta United **
6. Selmir Miscic, 03, North Carolina FC **
7. Matthew Roou, 03, Indy Eleven *

 

I would assume a roster of...

1st XI
——————Weah——————-
Aaronson—Baker-Whiting—Sullivan
————Nyeman——Leyva———
Paredes—————————Halliday
————Walls———Craig————-
——————Dewsnup——————

2nd XI
——————Yapi——————-
Wolff———Gutierrez———Vargas
———McGlynn—Corcoran————
Wiley——————————Cuevas
————Neal——-Williams———-
—————Brady/Slonina————-

...I don’t expect Che, Sealy, Sanogo, Booth, Rotundo, Cowell, Clark, Gomez, or Pepi to be available or to be bothered to play in this tournament. You can probably secure Borto. And I don’t think Leone, Torres, Okoh, Duenas, or E.
Ochoa will commit.

...I’m worried about center back, goalkeeper, and center forward being weak spots for us. I’m not sold on any of them. And the first player to show some promise in those areas can secure a spot.
....I think, even with a limited roster, we should hold our own in the midfield. The Seattle-Philly boys look solid, and I expect Nyeman to star in this thing for us. Paredes will probably play left midfield out of necessity, but I want to groom him for left back. I believe Halliday can hold his own at this level.

...this would be our best team...

——————Pepi—————
Cowell———Clark———Sealy
————Nyeman—Leyva——-
Paredes————————Halliday
————-Okoh——-Che———-
——————Borto——————

———————Sanogo———————-
Aaronson—RBW—Rotundo——Sullivan
———————McGlynn—————-
Gomez———————————Duenas
—————Craig——Leone————-
———————Dewsnup—————